Crushed
by Serena Thorn
Summary: Written for VM Redux on LJ. Veronica runs into Lamb in more ways than one after her visit with Abel at the prison.


Title: Crushed  
Rating: PG  
Summary: Written for VM_Redux on LJ. Veronica runs into Lamb in more ways than one after her visit with Abel at the prison.  
Spoilers: 1x08  
Disclaimer: Veronica Mars is not owned by me, but by Rob Thomas. I'm simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.  
A/N: I chose to blend three of my favorite prompts from the 1x08 list. Lamb seeing Veronica in Meg's cheerleader uniform, Lamb having been at the prison when she went to see Abel and her emotions after having found out about her possible parentage.

* * *

Veronica couldn't believe it. Could Abel Koontz have been right?

"_Are you the product of a shlubby sheriff or the king and queen of the prom?"_ Abel had asked her. She didn't want to believe it for every single one of the thousand reasons there were.

Could Lilly have been her sister? That would explain why they were so close. Oh God. Duncan. No. It couldn't be true. Could Duncan be her brother?! No, too wrong, too sick. He couldn't be. But then if he had found out that would explain why he had been so distant towards her even before Lilly's death.

Jake had never seemed comfortable around her and Celeste had hated her from day one. It really would explain so much. Even her mother's reaction when she told her that she was dating Duncan.

Before Veronica knew it she was crying as she sat in her car. She was just too overwhelmed. Initially from the shock of it all and then for her father. Her father who not be her biological father, the man she had spent seventeen years calling her dad. Did he know? Did he know it was even possible? Could he know if it was true? Was that another reason he hadn't wanted to find Lianne?

She cried harder at the sense of betrayal she felt. Just who all had been lying to her, keeping things from her and for how long? When Jake and Duncan gave her that ultimatum, when she sided with Keith, had she in fact been turning her back on her true family?

Everything she had known could be a lie. What if she really was a Kane? Was this why her mother had become an alcoholic? From having to keep so many secrets from her husband and daughter? If this was true, if she wasn't a Mars, then nothing was true. That was all she could think.

Veronica soon took a few deep breaths, wanting to be sure she was ready to drive. She needed to get away from the prison. She needed to think, to figure out just what to do next. She couldn't do that sitting in her parked car outside of a place she should have never come to.

She put her Le Baron in gear and moved to pull out of the parking space. Three seconds later she heard the unmistakable _crunch_ of metal hitting metal.

Of course she had felt it too, it couldn't be more than a fender bender but her day was guaranteed to get much worse. She realized just how much worse when she checked her rearview mirror.

Of all the cars in the whole lot of course it had been a Neptune police cruiser she had hit. When she saw the sheriff climb out she let her head fall to the steering wheel. This was officially not her day.

"If you wanted my attention, Mars, all you had to do was ask," Lamb sighed as he rested his hands on her car door.

Without even looking to him she reached for her bag and began rummaging around for her wallet.

"Did I ask you for your license or registration or insurance?"

"Can we just get on with it?" she sighed.

"How about you start by telling me what you're doing here?"

"Came to see someone. Is that a crime now, Sheriff?"

"Depends on who you were here to see and just why it resulted in you backing into my car."

"You came out of nowhere," she shot back.

That was beside the point, Lamb felt. "Who were you here to see, Veronica?"

"Someone I thought could help me. I was wrong. And now seeing your bright, smiling face you can imagine just how well my day must be going," she grinned wryly.

He almost laughed. There was only one person in this whole place she would be there to see. "License, registration and insurance," he stated. If he wasn't going to get answers he was going to get something out of her.

She wanted to throw them in his face, she really did. But her day had been bad enough, she didn't want to end up with him arresting her too.

When Lamb got back to his cruiser he looked to see if Veronica had any other tickets on her record. She didn't. He couldn't help but feel just a little disappointed. But then he had seen the tears she had tried to conceal from him, he could tell she hadn't been kidding about having a bad day. Plus it wasn't like she made it a habit of coming by the prison so this had to be serious. At least for her. And being so distracted that she backed into a police cruiser, never mind that it was his, that only showed just how out of it she was.

As he sat there he went over his options of what he could do. He could give her a break and let her off with a warning. It wouldn't be like him, especially not where she was concerned, but she didn't have priors, hadn't even gotten a parking or speeding ticket and he didn't see or smell any alcohol on her. His other option was to give her a ticket, be it for the smallest amount or the most outrageous. He had been having a bad day himself and usually pissing off Veronica made him feel better. But the girl was already down, did he really feel the need to kick her that much harder?

He thought back to that day in the courtroom, he did still want revenge for that. Though suddenly he had a better idea. Smirking as he filled out the form, he wrote out exactly what he wanted from her in that moment. There really were some things money couldn't buy. Not even in Neptune.

"I'm letting you off light here, Veronica. I'd suggest you keep that in mind when it comes time for you to pay up," he smiled when he handed her the folded ticket along with her cards. "Do you need me to follow you back to your place or are you sure you can get back without running into anyone else?"

"I'm fine," she told him flatly. She wasn't but she would never admit that to him.

Don nodded just once and headed away from her car. He would follow her anyway. Just because.

She waited until he was climbing back into his cruiser before she unfolded the yellow piece of paper. He hadn't filled it out like he normally would have. Her information was all there, but as for what she owed she was ready to back into his car all over again. But then it would only be more damage to her car too and it would only make her 'punishment' worse.

She looked to the ticket again. _I expect my car washed and waxed to perfection after I get it fixed up. By you. By hand. You know where I live, Veronica. Be there no later than two Saturday afternoon. Oh and be sure to bring along that cheerleader outfit you were wearing yesterday. Or a bikini, whatever. I'll let that be up to you. Just remember, Veronica, you do this and your driving record stays clear of what happened today. Daddy won't even have to know. See you Saturday,_ it still read.

He had seen her in Meg's uniform? How? When?! Of course, if he had been on his lunch break or on a call he would have had to pass the school from the station and he would have seen her walking to her apartment. And now he was blackmailing her. If she wanted to get out of paying what was sure to be **full** price for the fender bender (which he would be certain to make look worse if she didn't do this) she would have to do him this 'favor.' Now she was really stuck doing it. If Keith found out she had been at the prison to talk to Abel he would never let her out of the house again.

Still, she was keeping some dignity. Bikini? He could dream. And she wasn't about to ask Meg for her uniform again. She shrugged. She could wear her old pep squad outfit. She remembered him liking it back when they were friends. A little too much for a twenty-six-year-old deputy when she had been sixteen, in fact. Yeah, it would do.

She really didn't want to do this. But she didn't really have a choice. She was broke and the last thing she wanted was her father finding out about this. Especially if he found out that she now knew her mother's dirty little secret. The one that implied she herself was Jake Kane's dirty little secret.

Yeah. She would see Lamb on Saturday alright.

The End


End file.
